If you would have told me a year ago that we would lose our coach and all of our scholarship players and been ranked in the top ten with a real chance to go to the final four, I would have called you crazy! What Pope has done is nothing short of amazing.
Reality Check
- Thread starter rnfoster
- Start date
This team has to improve a whole lot before we start any final 4 talk. We are not a final 4 team right now. That's reality!
On Pope, he's did a great job putting this team together! I'm not sure folks appreciate just how difficult it is to do that.
On Pope, he's did a great job putting this team together! I'm not sure folks appreciate just how difficult it is to do that.
Any team that is in the top ten is in final four talk.
Exactly! Finally someone who's speaking facts.
I just hope they haven't peaked to early, especially come SEC. There's no easy win in the SEC this year.
I don't think we have peaked. We will lose a few games, no doubt . . . but we will make the tournament and have a real chance to make a run. It would not surprise me to see us lose 6 or 7 more games--maybe more, but we will be okay.
Amari drives me nuts, dunk the basketball. He's 7 feet and throwing up weak shots.
This team might be ranked in the top 10 but we will soon start to see that we aren’t a top 10 team. UNLESS we start to greatly improve and show more effort on the defensive end.
You’ll get a quick reality check when SEC play reveals we’re not really a top 10 or final four team.
Impressive what Pope was able to do based on the circumstances, but the current product is not impressive. At any rate, he gets a complete pass from me for this season, we'll see how he does the next 2 years before a real judgement can be made.
He gets a pass for sure. But the fact that he was all in on guys like Butler, Oweh, Williams - and Jaxson for that matter, is concerning. He went hard after some dudes that aren’t even fringe G-League guys. And other teams are having major impact transfers.
What did you expect him to go after? A large chunk of players had already found their transfer home, very little time to recruit any undecideds. Did you expect it to be easy to get even one commit from a transfer when the roster was completely bare? He had to get guys to buy in to A LOT of uncertainty just to get any dominos to fall. The roster, in that regard, is pretty incredible.
I love our team but I've got to be real. I've watched a lot of basketball over the last 45 years. We're not playing like a top 10 team right now. We're just not. We have earlier in the year, but we have not in a while. We have issues that are fixable though.
Our roster isn’t fixable. We simply lack athleticism, high level skill, and reliable perimeter shooting.
How dare u make a honest opinion on a message board. U should be banned.
He didn't say nothing about being a final four team but way to get your shots in first
Another positive post from you! Keep it up! You are only happy if you can be negative as hell
Awwww show me on the little teddy bear where I hurt you 🥹🥹🥹
The problem isn’t someone’s ability to post an opinion, it’s their inability to handle a different opinion.
You’re whining and need to toughen up little guy.
On a side note, I was the nut who said Pope was a great hire on day one. 99 percent of the replies called me an idiot. I say this is a final four team. We shall see.Got my vote!
You weren’t the only nut. Check my post history and you’ll see I was right here with you.
Just the fact that we are ranked top 10 with a chance at a great season is remarkable considering we don’t have any real top flight talent. Remarkable job by the team so far. I love this squad. I hope they overachieve all the way to final 4 or better!
I didn’t know if he would be great but I’ve always liked the way he coached teams and I knew he would give it his all here. He’s a great fit. If he gets real talent watch out and it seems like he’s going too. If we return what we should, a couple guys take the next step with our freshman class, and hopefully Wilson. Add 2-3 stud transfers and we are cooking for next year too.
“Our” roster?
I’d like to see Noah get more of Perry’s minutes, I know he doesn’t play pg at this level but let JR run it or oweh bring it up the floor. Perry gets lost on D too much & I just think Noah is a better player and will be going forward. Perry will be fine in the next couple years, I just would like to see Noah get time with the main guys.
Gang we have a good team that can compete with any team on a given night. Not a top five, I don’t think a final four contender, probably a sweet 16
Which is all we can ask for, considering how much time Pope had to put this team together along with the staff.
All in all, things are looking good. I’m loving the hire. Excited to see how the offense looks with some more athletic players that Pope has coming in next year.
I think players can flourish in the system
Which is all we can ask for, considering how much time Pope had to put this team together along with the staff.
All in all, things are looking good. I’m loving the hire. Excited to see how the offense looks with some more athletic players that Pope has coming in next year.
I think players can flourish in the system
We're athletic "enough". Certainly not our strength but it's enough. Our issues:
1. We do not play with consistent effort. We get very lackadaisical at times. This is our ##1 problem. Cannot afford to do that when you're already borderline average athletically. It shows up:
-defensively
-rebounding
-careless turnovers
But the 2nd half vs Duke & Zags when we played with much greater effort, you could see athleticism is not our greatest issue & can be muted if we're playing hard in both ends.
2. Hero ball. We have some players that want to be a hero at times rather than make the simple play. That's when lack of athleticism sticks out. Instead of driving the ball & trying to finish kick it out to the shooters that surround you. It's also a reason our offense has lacked a rhythm for several games. The ball movement has declined.
3. Ball handling. We really do not handle the ball well.
4. Lack of Physicality. We do not like people getting ohysical with us.
With all of that said, #1 seems to be the problem that has hurt us the most when we struggle. Play hard for 40 minutes & the other problems are not nearly as obvious. Like I said...it's fixable. But the players have to do it. A coach cannot give a player a "want to" or create a "competitive drive".
Other teams weren’t constructing entire rosters. What he did in the short amount of time is amazing and he should get credit for it. Now he should never have to do it again. We should have time to recruit solid high school prospects to go along with transfers and hold overs. This team may not make a final four maybe they will but they have performed respectfully thus far and are for the most part fun to watch. They have a chance, that’s really at the start all we were looking for in year one.
Oh I'm with you on that! I love our coach & I love our players.
Internet coaching geniuses amuse me.
I've watched basketball for 48 years......
We need to play zone....
We need a go to scorer....
Is Richie gonna play tonight
The good news is that we will see.
GBB!
I've watched basketball for 48 years......
We need to play zone....
We need a go to scorer....
Is Richie gonna play tonight
The good news is that we will see.
GBB!
Way too early to cut the nets down.....remember the OSU beatdown?? Wait until we play 5 or 6 conference games before you even begin talking FF.
Could not agree more. Way too much casual play, even against top tier teams. That’s why we have 2 big comebacks bc the casual play allowed the big deficit. And also the hero ball u refer to is spot on. We have a few guys that try to get too cute when things are going on and they are quickly reminded that they’re not John wall or Jamal Murray, etc. Because it rarely ends in a positive way. Just play with good intensity on defense, run the offense, block out and rebound like crazy, and we will be fine.